When Gagne walked to the mound, you knew he was probably going to embarrass you. The imitation speed are of 2 m/s, 2.5 m/s, 3 m/s, 3.5 m/s, 4 m/s, 4.5 m/s and 5 m/s. However, he is still just 23 years old. -- and his pitching motion was practically indistinguishable from the pitching motions we see today. He struck out 276 batters in 218 innings as arookiein 1984 and then came back the next season to win the Cy Young award by striking out 268 batters in 276.2 innings. For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. They had to figure out a new and "cleaner" way of pitching. Another factor in the speed bonanza is that teams have seen the data showing how important pure velocity is, so they have placed more emphasis on it when scouting, drafting and developing young pitchers. The middle section of the graph from 88-97 all have good sample sizes and allow us to see the clear trend. Last year there were only 8 pitchers who averaged 86 mph or lower with their fastball. It would be like going back to 1990 and replacing the 80 slowest pitchers with 80 flamethrowers. It was the first since 2019 after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 CWS. Strikeouts are only a part of his dominance, but in just 1,260 career innings, the 65 righty already has 1,161 strikeouts and is pitching no-hitters like hes Nolan Ryan. Baseball: Which Is More Popular? Mississippi State won its first ever National Championship for any sport in school history. Are there measurements or estimations? Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. On the flip side, there were 80 pitchers who averaged 94 mph or higher. Good hitters can. Matt Monagan However, I cannot stress enough that these are only averages, and there is very limited data to go on here. A baseball pros. He is sometimes referred to as the fastest pitcher in baseball history and had a fastball that probably exceeded 100 mph. However, Major League Baseball officially considers that pitch to be a 105.8 mph fastball. Anything below 88mph is considered 0. Nolan Ryan led the league in strikeouts seven times. What to do with the Cincinnati Reds: So Far, So Good, Reds score 10 runs in the 8th inning, blow lead, settle for a tie. Feliz's fastball was once clocked at 103.4 mph during a game at Rangers Ballpark, a speed that is third all-time behind only Aroldis Chapman (105.1 mph) and Joel Zumaya (104.8 mph). Now they have 60 due to expanded ballparks and/or alternate site games being played away from home. There are multiple reasons.One reason is the pitchers are simply bigger and stronger than they used to be. 3: the flux density distribution over one pole pitch of the machine of Question 8 is as shown in the adjacent figure. Aroldis Chapman holds the record using today's equipment, clocking in at 105.1 mph. The next season, Newhouser went 11-10 with a 3.12 ERA in 29 games (all starts).if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sportsmanist_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',118,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sportsmanist_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Overall, Nolan Ryan holds the record, according to Doppler Radar. The fact of the matter is, whether we like it or not, it is happening. I'm 24, 5'6, 130 lbs (I'm a girl) and i got 35. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in fastball speed: 98.1 MPH Fastest pitch in the hundreds: 100.5 MPH The 25-year-old Atlanta bullpen arm isn't as big a name as some of the other players on this list, but is quickly emerging as . They may not even have to drive anywhere as many of these facilities put their training programs online for players to follow at home. The average fastball speed is 92 miles per hour. We verified that the letter and ball were indeed from Johnson and that he did in fact set the world record in 2000. Back then, no one could touch 100 mph. One may hear things like Pitchers are throwing harder than they ever have before. The result shows that at 4 is the best pitch . He has also appeared in several television commercials, most notably for Old Milwaukee beer. Has some life up in the zone; hitters . Join our linker program. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that Will velocity continue to rise, or will it hold steady? However, there is some complexity to it as velocity measurements are used more as a guide to help the coaches make decisions. At least thats what the Indians keep telling themselves. the fastest reactions and most direct routes in the Chapman is also one of only two pitchers (the other being Randy Johnson) to throw two no-hit games in their careers. Johnson faced all the early legends of the sport. When it comes to speed In high school that might be an upper 80s fastball, college a low to mid 90s fastball, MLB a upper 90s fastball or better. While it is difficult to pinpoint a specific number, it is safe to believe that velocities at these levels of college baseball have likely experienced the same two mph increase that D1 and MLB have seen over the years. How hard, in miles per hour, a pitch is thrown. As a result, the average fastball speed has, broadly, risen steadily over time.You may notice a slight dip in average velocity from 2017 to this season, but as September begins and teams fill out their bullpens with even more hard-throwing talent, it's quite possible that number will continue to climb.But that's not the only interesting way fastball velocity has increased in the last decade. In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. With the new pitch clock showing early success at speeding up the sport, . Notice that pitchers are even bigger and stronger today than they were during the so-called Steroid Era (the hitters are too), even though half of the players suspended for PEDs or listed in the Mitchell Report were pitchers. One of them was a knuckleballer (R.A. Dickey). The average fastball is between 50-60 mph. That difference of two mph in nine years is more significant than it may seem. poochon puppies for sale in nebraska; Tags . Now we know that velocity is a critical factor and one of the primary reasons that strikeouts are up and scoring is down across baseball. Will take a walk, but also strikes out a lot. Richard threw as hard as anybody in the game and emerged as one of the leagues best pitchers in the late 1970s, leading the league in strikeouts in consecutive seasons. The former Dodgers closer once converted a record 84 straight save opportunities and was as close to untouchable as a pitcher will ever be. Its easy to forget just how good Doc was with the Mets after his career pretty much fell apart in the late 1990s. Jimenez doesnt get much attention as a power pitcher because he walks so many batters (nearly four every nine innings), but when hes on, there might not be a better pitcher in baseball. Pitchers back then (deadball era) were expected to throw complete games and had to pace themselves. exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Ten years ago, training facilities that focused solely on increasing pitching performance were a dime a dozen. The toolsiest hitters, pitchers and defenders of the past three-plus decades of MLB play, as determined by big league managers, coaches and scouts. Tweet. Perhaps there is not a big difference between 90 and 92, but there is a very big difference between 86 and 94. If you want to play D1, you have to be able to throw ___ mph., There are others who will say, Velocity doesnt matter at all. The pitcher is the player who throws the ball. There is more to pitching than velocity only. Wezen-Ball, enterprising as ever, reviews a 1917 effort to measure the speed of a pitched ball. This technique is essential in increasing your pitching speed as a player. Could a 108 mph fastball soon be in the future? The list goes on and on, but one thing many baseball fans remember about this past years CWS was the number of pitchers who threw their fastballs at velocities previously unheard of in the college game.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'baseballscouter_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_3',120,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-baseballscouter_com-medrectangle-4-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'baseballscouter_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',120,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-baseballscouter_com-medrectangle-4-0_1');.medrectangle-4-multi-120{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:7px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:7px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:50px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}, Guys like Vanderbilts Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker ran their fastballs up into the mid 90s as did Mississippi States Will Bednar and Landon Sims. With a larger sample in that bucket it is likely that data point would climb closer to the trend line of the rest of the graph. Batted Ball Exit Velocity by Age Pitchers are throwing harder than ever. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'baseballscouter_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_9',126,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-baseballscouter_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');For more on this, take a look at one of our previous articles about high school pitching velocities. Compare that to the 91.7 mph average in 2008. On Aug. 20, 1974, Ryan entered The Guinness Book of World Records with a 100.9 mph pitch. Now, they are everywhere.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'baseballscouter_com-leader-3','ezslot_13',130,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-baseballscouter_com-leader-3-0'); Young players all across the country can likely drive within one hour of their hometown to find a workout facility dedicated to helping them increase the velocity on their fastball. After Barnes gave up a run on two hits in the Red Sox' 7-2 loss to the Pirates on Saturday, Red Sox. Dmitriy Ioselevich is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Indeed, fastball velocity around MLB has increased dramatically. Similarly, Mark Buehrle was the only pitcher in the 84 mph bucket. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. 11 to 12 Year-Olds Among 11 and 12-year-olds, the average fastball speed is 50-60 mph. Again, keep in mind that this study does not reflect velocity data from every single division 1 pitcher in 2012. 70 mph. Therefore, while not perfect, it is as good an indicator of average fastball velocity as one will be able to find from that era of college baseball. But just because the third strike often eluded Gibson, doesnt mean that the Hall of Famer didnt throw hard. Over the course of the past decade, Chapmans fastest fastball had gotten faster by nearly a mile per hour. As you can see, there is a massive change in pitching velocity over the course of the development of a youth player. What is the Average Velocity of a Division 1 Pitcher? Hitter's Parks - Parks with Most Home Runs, Average Speed by Pitch Type in the Majors, 1/20/2011 - Added Steven Ellis HS averages, 8/14/2008 - Corrected title "Pro avg" to "MLB avg", 8/10/2008 - Added average speed in major leagues based on August 2008 actual stats. Money quote: The Popular Science article is called "Two and a Half Miles a Minute: That's the speed . The players of prior decades were not and the difference shows on the field. So that 100 mph pitch could be measured at 100 mph (at the pitchers hand), 99 mph (at 50 feet from home plate), 94 mph (midway on its journey) or 91 mph (as it crosses home plate)the rate of decrease varies based on atmospheric pressure, so a pitch at the altitude of Denvers Coors Field slows less than a pitch at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. That is going to make a big difference across the league. According to data from Fangraphs and Statcast, the average major league fastball has improved 3.8 miles an hour in the past 20 years, and the number of pitches at or above 100 mph has jumped. Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have His story is not particularly well known outside of Houston, but Richards promising career as a starter came to an end at the age of 30 because of a life-threatening stroke. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. In 2003, only one MLB pitcher threw at. Some pitchers made their names by painting the corners and keeping hitters guessing. Avg. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. , The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the best baseball card collections in the world thanks to one man, By A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a They reached a record average of 93.1 mph in 2019, including 92.6 mph for starters, according to Statcast. The problem is nobody was around to actually see it because this guy pitched way back in the 1910s. Tops out at 94 mph. BA Newsletter: Get Analysis, Rankings Delivered To Your Inbox! Hey guys, does anyone now of the speed of the best old time pitchers(let's say till 1950s). Jimenez is another pitcher who, at just 27 years old, has already raised eyebrows with some of his strikeout totals and radar gun readings. time of a pitcher's first movement or pitch release. Major League Baseballs average velocity is much more accurate and much easier to track down than other levels of baseball because every pitch thrown in a season is recorded by their Statcast system.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'baseballscouter_com-leader-2','ezslot_12',125,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-baseballscouter_com-leader-2-0'); A Major League fastball averaged 93.7 miles per hour in 2020. A fastball that reached 93 mph in his early years had settled into the 89-90 mph range, as Maddux emphasized pitch command at the expense of radar-gun readings, using pinpoint control of his devastating circle-change to exploit batter weaknesses. Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Jose Lima of the Los Angeles Dodgers both reached this mark twice. See Also:BBCOR vs. USSSA: Here Are DifferenceHow Long Does a High School Baseball Season Last?How Many High School Pitchers Throw 90 MPH?Football vs. The moment a baseball leaves a pitchers hand, it starts to slow down because of drag. Players whose velocities are below average should not worry. In 1989, Nolan Ryan returned to the mound with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A 94 mph pitch on the Stalker Pro registered as 95 on the Stalker Pro II. As shown by Hunter Atkins (ESPN), pitchers have gone from 61 189 pounds in the 1950s up to 63 206 pounds today. The 2021 College World Series was one of the most memorable ones in recent history. As part of our discussion of the new low-scoring run environment across baseball, lets take a look at rising fastball velocity and see what effect that may have. He was a left-handed pitcher who played in the Baltimore Orioles. But through games played on Sept. 14, deGrom has the speediest average fastball ever for a given season, among starting pitchers who've tossed at least 30 innings in a season since 2008. and 32 degrees. For a pitcher it is the . In 1960 it was 8.8%. My fiance and i did the pitch speed test thing at the fair. In college it might be an 85-88 fastball. As we have learned from the other articles in this series, there are manyreasons why runs are down: reduced PED usage, larger strike zone, defensive shifting, increased usage of the cut fastball, heat maps that identify hitters weaknesses, bullpen matchups/specialization, improved surgical techniques that get injured pitchers back on the mound, the Coors Field humidor and several more factors. It wasnt Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, but it was significant. Despite over 3,000 career punchouts Gibson finished his career averaging just 7.3 SO/9 and only led the league in strikeouts once. outfield. In 2008, the average major-league fastball registered 90.9 mph. The Reds and Lou Piniella were pioneers of this trend with the Nasty Boys, especially the hard-throwing Rob Dibble. I thought that even the top power pitchers of the 1920s and '30s -- again, before Feller -- topped out around 90 miles an hour. Should I Hit the Top of the Ball? They rank 17 th in the country in scoring and second in the conference in batting average, while their opponents only hit .256 against Trojan pitching and have an earned run . Players today benefit from world-class fitness training to strengthen their entire bodies, not just their biceps and chest like players used to do. Our speeds measured out of the hand (close to pitcher). Birdsell mixes in a firm, tight slider and a budding changeup that's shown growth over the course of his career. He averaged over 20 inches of IVB on the fastball this season, again, a truly outlandish figure. At 107.9 mph, the hitter has 0.35 seconds. He redefined what it meant to be a power pitcher and laid the groundwork for guys like Clemens and Johnson to take over the league. Ryan threw the knuckleball from 1973 to 1986. What do you get when you combine a block party and a baseball league? I'd say the average guy would be 55 at best. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. How high/low, in degrees, a ball was hit by a batter. What is Mitchell Starc's fastest ball speed? 1990: 913: 2nd in NL: 1989: 890: 5th in NL: 1988: 943: 4th in NL: Innings Pitched. Pitch Type report shows Average Speed by Pitch Type in the Majors Sources All except below are based on radar readings by the editor. Hes naturally right-handed. That's a 50 percent jump over the past decade -- although, hidden in the middle was a very odd spike in 2015 when that number reached as high as 47 pitchers. xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will An 85 mph fastball (if registered by a Speedgun at the plate) would be roughly 93 mph if measured by Statcast out of the pitchers hand. In addition, he finished third three times. because high velocity leads to more strikeouts. the ERA scale, A measurement of a player's top running speed, expressed pitch. (c)Also find the average air gap flux density and the flux per pole. Do you have a sports website? organization although he never reached the majors. At the height of his career (1998-2002), he was striking out more than a batter per inning, and who knows how many strikeouts he might have now if injuries hadnt derailed his promising career. In earlier erasthere were always a few pitchers who stood out for their speed. His fastball generates 29.4 percent whiffs per swing, seventh in . Michael Clair On top of that, nobody bothered to record the results for posterity. How much spin, in revolutions per minute, a pitch was This chart could change at any time based on the evolution of the pitcher in the game of baseball. All rights reserved. xwOBA is formulated using exit velocity, launch angle No, pitchers didn't throw 150 miles an hour. The record has since been broken several times. How far, in feet, a runner is ranging off the bag at the During his eight-year retirement, Ryan worked as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports and as a consultant for the Texas Rangers. But now, the emphasis on fastball velocity has become an obsession, and pitchers are discovering new ways of throwing even harder. You can find the answer by looking at the data from various sources, including the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and USA Softball. "They put me in the Hall of Fame? Besides, as mentioned earlier, there has never been more information available about gaining velocity, so pitchers always have room for improvement if they are willing to put in the work. There have been pitchers who can throw harder than Ryans 100.9 mph fastball. I don't believe they threw, on average, as hard as pitchers throw today. Dedicated to Teaching Baseball and Fast Pitch Softball. 62 mph. Diamondbacks primed to bury Dodgers, Losing Corey Seager leaves Dodgers' season on the brink. The top speed is 90 miles per hour. . The average change-up speed for this age group is about 10 mph slower, making the velocity between 30-40 mph. League Year-By-Year Pitching--Averages Table; Year Tms #P PAge R/G ERA G GF CG SHO tSho SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP BAbip H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W E; 2022: 30: 871: 28.8: 4.28 Division II. Eric Chesterton It makes perfect sense that harder fastballs are more difficult to hit, leading to a sharp drop in runs scored. The current MLB Statcast system measures velocity as the pitch leaves the pitchers hand. I topped out at 72 or so. Our speeds measured out of the hand (close to pitcher). Real or Not? Yeah, well teams dont do that anymore. He first broke into the major leagues with the Reds in 2011 and was immediately given the title of "Fastest Pitcher in History". A batted ball with the perfect combination of exit 5 years later it had risen to 92.0. For example, Aroldis Chapman was the only pitcher who averaged 100 mph, so his 2.00 ERA is the only data point in the 100 mph bucket. Categories . A modern radar gun measures the pitch either out of the hand or ten feet away from the pitcher, depending on the gunmost measurements all the way up to the 1980's would measure a pitcher about 60 feet from his hand (although I believe Walter Johnson was clocked 25 or 30 feet away from his hand). And yet, somehow, fastball velocity has continued to rise in the long run. In April, biomedical engineer and research director of the American Sports Medicine Institute Glenn Fleisig told Wired Magazine, "I don't see [a pitcher's velocity] going much higher. As for other hard numbers for those days: two hours and 15 minutes was considered an ordinary game back then. The tech continued to improve. "Just recall: While Jordan Hicks threw the hardest pitch at 105 mph this year, no one has topped Aroldis Chapman's 105.7-mph pitch from 2016. Bob Feller was measured at 98.6 MPH. Fastball velocity is on the rise. How fast, in miles per hour, a ball was hit by a batter. Wood finished his career with just 989 strikeouts in 1,434.1 innings, but considering the era he was pitching in, those are some pretty outstanding numbers. A quick Google search indicates that the average baseball pitch stride is between 80% and 90% of a pitcher's height. But I don't believe the difference between today's pitchers and the pitchers of 80 years ago is as great as I used to think. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Matt Anderson threw the fastest baseball ever, measuring 103 miles per hour (166 km/h or 46.0 m/s). and, on certain types of batted balls, Sprint Speed. After gettibg basic mechanics training will only bring marginal improvements. But baseball history is littered with people proclaiming that we've finally reached the peak of fastball velocity. Many thanks to him. . When a player is looking for 15 to 20% increase from arm speed to pitch speed, this technique is the most effective and advisable. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. They each pitched at least one inning at 100 mph or faster. We've gained a mile and a half in just six years. His 10.0 SO/9 IP during his career would be fourth all-time if the righty threw more innings. Wohlers was a failed starter who came out of seemingly nowhere to be a lockdown closer for the Braves in the mid 1990s. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as At first glance it might not seem that an increase of 2-4 mph over two decades would have a major effect on run scoring in the major leagues. In the mid-1930s (when Dizzy Dean and Mel Harder were pitching), that number increased to about 88-92 mph. As a pitcher in Major League Baseball, it can be difficult to survive without an above-average fastball. The answer is yes, and this study shared on Lets Talk Pitchings website supports it. Generally, most 9 year olds won't be expected to throw much faster than 35-40 miles per hour (mph). Hitters have the most trouble with the things they find unusual. The average pitching speed for an MLB player is about 93 miles per hour. window") of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec. Year to Year Changes. Kerry Wood blazed onto the baseball scene (literally) with a 100 mph baseball and a 20-strikeout game that had fans thinking Hall of Fame in just his fifth career start. Baseballscouter.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Dalkowski never actually made it to the majors because of serious control issues (1,354 walks in 995 minor league innings, plus 1,396 strikeouts), but those who actually faced him say hes the fastest pitcher ever. Also, as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Perhaps I'm wrong on this, but it's just a theory of mine. Walter Johnson and Smoky Joe Wood were the famous fireballers of the Dead Ball Era. What's the average pitching speed by age in baseball? But for each of the last four years, we've seen over 1,000 pitches thrown over 100 mph.While more pitches are reaching the triple-digit mark than ever before, the total number of starters able to reach that mark hasn't grown at the same rate. It was common for pitchers to "coast" until a runner got into scoring position. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Even though both were clocked rather crudely, their measurements would extrapolate to over 100 mph on a modern radar gun. We are reader supported. How Long Does a High School Baseball Season Last? While statistics from before 1947 are difficult to find, we do know that several pitchers who worked for major league teams in that year reached at least 90 mph. Ted Williams once took a spring training pitch from the 58 Dalkowski and reportedly never saw it. That is no longer the case. We are in the age of information, and there seems to be more research and more people willing to share their knowledge when it comes to gaining velocity. It is very likely that if every pitcher on every teams velocity was recorded in 2012 the average number could be even lower. Hernandez is on pace for his third consecutive season of at least 200 Ks, and his strikeout rate is at a career-high 8.5 SO/9 this season. So pitchers pacing themselves was a n. That old adage about pitchers needing to always . They ridiculed him and refused to use it. Hes a lock to reach 3,000 if he stays healthy, and at 28 years old, he may just be getting better. The 65 lefty was a true strikeout artist during his heyday, leading his league in Ks five times and twice topping 300. Perhaps I'm wrong on this, but it's just a theory of mine. But how does this happen?, Fastball Velocity in MPH vs Strikeout Rate in 2014. Gibson was never much of a strikeout artist. I would guess that he saved his best fastball and used it maybe a dozen times a game. The harder you throw the more likely you are to rupture a ligament in your elbow. We need your support to make FanGraphs sustainable so you can continue to enjoy all of the stats and tools you've come to rely on, like The . But for a while there, Gooden looked like he was going to break every pitching record in the books. Ask any pitcher who loses a mile off their fastball, and they'll tell you how much easier it is for batters to square up on them at the lower speed.Teams have always valued pitchers who can throw hard, and most of the best starters and relievers are those with giant, blink-and-you'll-miss-it-because-it-passed-you-ten-minutes-ago fastballs. Strikes stem somewhat from swing-and-miss in his game, but also from his approach where he works a lot of deep counts. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. In 1980 it sat at 8.2%. While that seems minor, it's actually an enormous boost over time. (b)plot the flux density distribution over two consecutive poles; indicate all axes. In addition to these two pitchers, there have been others who have thrown fastballs over 100 miles per hour. For a batter, Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. All except below are based on radar readings by the editor. Whichever is accurate, Feller absolutely dominated hitters during his time. The official reading was in 2006, and its doubtful that Zumaya can come anywhere close to that figure now, but for a time, you could call Zumaya the hardest thrower ever. All rights reserved. Data Provided By More players at even younger ages are beginning to focus solely on playing baseball, and even within the sport, more players are starting to focus solely on pitching. Find out more. Hi! MLB Advanced Media, LP. Teams place a higher priority on raw speed and power than they used to. Fastball Velocity by Age Looking at fastball velocity, we see more curvature to the aging curve than we saw with bat speed. The AL East is setting up as a race for the ages, Albert Pujols' push for 3,000 powered by dominant decade, 'Ich-i-ro!
